Map Reading

Review Hard Concepts(1 and 5 answers are from USGS website)

USGS

A science bureau within the United States Department of the Interior. It provides science about the natural hazards that threaten lives and livelihoods; the water, energy, minerals, and other natural resources we rely on; the health of our ecosystems and environment; and the impacts of climate and land-use change. Our scientists develop new methods and tools to enable timely, relevant, and useful information about the Earth and its processes.

Hours, minutes, and seconds in

For latitude, 1 degree is 60 minutes and one minutes is 60 seconds. For longitude, the Earth’s 360 degrees is divided into 24 hours, so one hour is 15 degrees, and hours are further broken into minutes, with 1 degree being 4 minutes.

Index Line

A type of contour line that is normally made for important elevations(ex. 5,000 feet). It is bolder than intermediate contours and it is labeled with its elevation.

7.5 minute topographic map

The map covers 7.5 minutes of latitude and longitude.

PLSS

A way of subdividing and describing land in the United States. PLSS surveys, which are available for portions of land in 30 southern and western states, are made by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).